Hey @ yuli: Thanks a lot!
I wouldn’t mind learning more of it on my own time, but take issue with the taxi drivers that feel obliged to teach me it when all I want is a few minutes silence between where I am coming from and where I am going. 
[quote=“bismarck”]
Bit of a paradox. Something tells me you weren’t raised on Isla Formosa…[/quote]
I wish I were. I was raised all over the globe and when people find out I’m Taiwanese yet I can’t speak a word of it, I just feel like stabbing myself in the face…
[quote=“shika”][quote=“bismarck”]
Bit of a paradox. Something tells me you weren’t raised on Isla Formosa…[/quote]
I wish I were. I was raised all over the globe and when people find out I’m Taiwanese yet I can’t speak a word of it, I just feel like stabbing myself in the face…[/quote]
Don’t be too harsh on yourself. There are loads of people born and raised here that can’t speak it either.
[quote=“bismarck”]
Don’t be too harsh on yourself. There are loads of people born and raised here that can’t speak it either.[/quote]
Wait…really? I’d imagine everyone to be able to speak it. Still, I’m gonna go all out to learn it as soon as I land in Taiwan.
The answer is three. It takes three. One to yell, one to cough, and one to spit.
[quote=“shika”][quote=“bismarck”]
Don’t be too harsh on yourself. There are loads of people born and raised here that can’t speak it either.[/quote]
Wait…really? I’d imagine everyone to be able to speak it. Still, I’m gonna go all out to learn it as soon as I land in Taiwan.[/quote]
Yeah, and especially up north. Don’t expect many people (except some oldies and Taxi drivers or folks who moved from down south) to speak Taiwanese. Down south it’s better, but a lot of the youngsters can’t really speak Taiwanese. They can understand some, but struggle to have a conversation. Also, some youngsters (even down south), especially the more “educated” ones, feel it is low class to speak Taiwanese. I think they’re full of shit and applaud your plans to learn the old Tai Gi. I plan to get on that horse soon, myself. Should be easier for you, though. Good luck. 
[quote=“bismarck”]
Yeah, and especially up north. Don’t expect many people (except some oldies and Taxi drivers or folks who moved from down south) to speak Taiwanese. Down south it’s better, but a lot of the youngsters can’t really speak Taiwanese. They can understand some, but struggle to have a conversation. Also, some youngsters (even down south), especially the more “educated” ones, feel it is low class to speak Taiwanese. I think they’re full of shit and applaud your plans to learn the old Tai Gi. I plan to get on that horse soon, myself. Should be easier for you, though. Good luck. [/quote]
Thanks man, I feel more motivated than ever! One day I just might be able to haggle my way through the night markets in perfect Taiwanese, complete with the yelling and the spitting. That would be awesome. Good luck to you too 
That’s a common myth. Taiwanese is alive and well, even here in Taipei City Just head over to Wanhua or Datong. Loads of people speak it as their primary language.
What percentage of Taipeiers would you say can speak Taiwanese fluently? Even in Tainan there’s an almost dead age group from mid twenties to about 40, depending on the family, of course (largely because of KMT linguistic policy when this group was at school). 40 and over are almost at 100%, but 25 and younger I wouldn’t put at more than 50% being truly fluent. This, as I assume is also the case in Taipei (areas like Sanchong seem to have higher fluency because of old timers that originally came from the south, but more than one taxi driver has lamented how his kids can hardly string together a sentence in Taiwanese, although those “kids” would be 30-ish), depends on the area. South north and Anping district seems more fluent in Taiwanese and more willing to speak it instead of Mandarin. The central area is 50/50, and the East (more affluent), doesn’t seem to care for it at all. Once you get outside the city into the county it’s almost all you hear.
Edit - By fluent I mean, can speak like a native, or speak it at home. Not “can understand some and speak a little when talking to granny who doesn’t understand Mandarin”.
50% of the people I work with (ages 25-45) in an office speak completely fluent Taiwanese. They may mainly speak Mandarin and because they are educated, I think many people might assume that they don’t. All the guys at the motorcycle shop downstairs and at the pool hall across the street speak in fluently. The 20-something guys in the high end bike shop all speak it fine.
I’d guess at least 30% speak it fluently in Taipei city and more like 50% in ‘New Taipei City’. Many more of course can understand/communicate. A fair number of people have commented that they didn’t speak it much in school but it is essential in the workplace.
Sounds about right to me. Thanks for your input there. Especially the part about it being essential in the workplace. I didn’t think that would really be the case in Taipei.
Where the numbers fall off is with the kids. Few can speak these days it seems. In New Taipei more, but still easily most kids there don’t speak fluently I’d guess.
I rarely hear Taiwanese being spoken in Taipei by anyone under the age of 50, and I live in a benshengren neighborhood. It’s mostly blue-collar workers or old people that speak it, by my observation. My friends that are the same age as me have absolutely no ability speaking Taiwanese at a fluent level. This topic comes up here and there, and they always admit to only knowing how to swear, and a few have told me they don’t really bother to learn Taiyu because in Taipei it is “沒有用，講國語就好了”. Most are from Taipei/Taoyuan, and maybe their families are waishengren? The only time I ever hear Taiwanese from young people is when they are yelling at someone or making fun of someone…or at KTV when they order taiyu songs and just sing the words in ‘using-mandarin-to-guess-taiyu-sounds’ because they have no idea how to read it.
How it should be written and actual pronounciation
田中兮白翎鷥，無欠缺啥物。
Tshân-tiong ê pe̍h-līng-si, bô khiàm-khueh siánn-mi̍h.
山頂兮百合花，春天獻芳味。
Suann-tíng ê pik-ha̍p-hue, tshun-thinn hiàn phang-bī.
總是全能兮上帝，每日賞賜真福氣
Tsóng-sī tsuân-lîng ê Siōng-tè, muí-ji̍t siúnn-sù tsin hok-khì.
予地上發芽結實，顯出疼痛的根據
Hōo tē-tsiūnn huat-gê kiat-si̍t, hián-tshut thiànn-thàng ê kin-kì.
耶和華祝福滿滿，親像海邊土沙
Iâ-hô-hua tsiok-hok muá-muá, tshin-tshiūnn hái-pinn thôo-sua.
恩典慈愛直到萬世代
Un-tián tsû-ài ti̍t-kàu bān-sè-tāi.
我欲攑手敬拜伊，出歡喜兮歌聲
Guá beh gia̍h-tshiú kìng-pài i, tshut huann-hí ê kua-siann.
呵咾稱頌伊名永無煞
O-ló tshing-siōng i miâ íng bô suah.
My best pal and her family speak it and all her family, who have always been lovely to me. I’d like to learn some for that reason.
Hansioux, I have unending respect for you as one of few people who realize that:
@Taiwanese does in fact have a writing system
@The Chinese subtitles we see for most Taiwanese-language media is a translation or partial translation into Mandarin
Few people, even fluent Taiwanese-speakers, seem to get this. They say “there’s no writing system; ㄟ can only be written as 的” but that’s just not true.
To get back on topic: I can say a few cute sentences of Taiwanese just for effect (my gf’s favorite: 歹勢，攏係我毋對), and I can frequently identify what people are talking about, but rarely what they are actually saying.
I would learn Taiwanese if they understood that people who don’t speak Taiwanese are also Taiwanese.
I think if you knew more people who speak Taiwanese, you would find that very few people actually think this. You are basically just voicing another form of ethnic prejudice and stereotyping.
I’ve heard some funny reasons for not learning languages before, but that’s possibly a ‘hall of fame’ one. ‘I’ll learn their language when a social issue that I perceive is resolved!’
I never learned because I could get by without it, so, lazy. I also wanted to get my mandarin decent before starting. This is silly because, well, that’s going to take a lot longer. 14 years and counting … Now I’m out of the environment, it’s probably not going to happen.